Arteries

The aorta is the main trunk of a series of vessels which convey the oxygenated blood to the tissues of the body for their nutrition. It commences at the upper part of the left ventricle, where it is about 3 cm. in diameter, and after ascending for a short distance, arches backward and to the left side, over the root of the left lung; it then descends within the thorax on the left side of the vertebral column, passes into the abdominal cavity through the aortic hiatus in the diaphragm, and ends, considerably diminished in size (about 1.75 cm. in diameter), opposite the lower border of the fourth lumbar vertebra, by dividing into the right and left common iliac arteries. Hence it is described in several portions, viz., the ascending aorta, the arch of the aorta, and the descending aorta, which last is again divided into the thoracic and abdominal aortæ.
The Ascending Aorta (Aorta Ascendens) The ascending aorta is about 5 cm. in length. It commences at the upper part of the base of the left ventricle, on a level with the lower border of the third costal cartilage behind the left half of the sternum; it passes obliquely upward, forward, and to the right, in the direction of the heart’s axis, as high as the upper border of the second right costal cartilage, describing a slight curve in its course, and being situated, about 6 cm. behind the posterior surface of the sternum. At its origin it presents, opposite the segments of the aortic valve, three small dilatations called the aortic sinuses. At the union of the ascending aorta with the aortic arch the caliber of the vessel is increased, owing to a bulging of its right wall. This dilatation is termed the bulb of the aorta, and on transverse section presents a somewhat oval figure. The ascending aorta is contained within the pericardium, and is enclosed in a tube of the serous pericardium, common to it and the pulmonary artery.
Relations.—The ascending aorta is covered at its commencement by the trunk of the pulmonary artery and the right auricula, and, higher up, is separated from the sternum by the pericardium, the right pleura, the anterior margin of the right lung, some loose areolar tissue, and the remains of the thymus; posteriorly, it rests upon the left atrium and right pulmonary artery. On the right side, it is in relation with the superior vena cava and right atrium, the former lying partly behind it; on the left side, with the pulmonary artery